Many machines used in the construction, mining, forestry and agriculture industries, such as tractors, bulldozers, backhoes, excavators, motor graders and trucks, have components that frequently come into contact with the ground during work operations. For example, many of these machines may include a work implement that can be used by the machine to perform a variety of tasks including, for example, loading compacting and lifting. In the course of performing these tasks, the work implement may come into contact with the ground. For example, a machine may use a blade or bucket to move and level earth or materials being excavated or loaded. The earth-working blades and buckets frequently experience extreme wear from repeated contact with highly abrasive materials encountered during operation. The replacement of these work implements can be costly and labor intensive.
Wear members may be used to help protect the work implements and other ground engaging components of a machine from excessive wear. Typically, a wear member is a removable component that can be attached to the areas of the work implement or machine that encounter the most damaging and repeated abrasions and impacts. When attached, the wear members help absorb the abrasions and impacts and thereby protect the work implement. When the wear member itself becomes worn through use, it can be removed and replaced with new wear member at a reasonable cost to permit the continued use of the wear member. By protecting the implement with one or more wear members and replacing the worn wear members at appropriate intervals, significant cost and time savings are possible.
Some wear members have issues that can limit their versatility. In particular, it can be useful if a wear member is designed so as to maximize its versatility such that it can be attached to a variety of different surfaces on a machine. Two factors that may influence the versatility of a wear member include the sizes and/or configurations that the wear member may take and the ability of the wear member to conform to curved surfaces. For example, it may be desirable that a wear member can be manufactured in a variety of different sizes so that it may better match up with the size of the surface which the wear member is to protect. Additionally, it can be helpful if a wear member can be bent or curved so to be able to be attached to a bent or curved surface.
A wear member that can be used on machines is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,795,828 (“the '828 patent”). The wear member disclosed in the '828 patent includes a wear surface and a mounting surface with the wear surface consisting of a metal alloy with preformed ceramic shapes embedded therein. The wear surface has a plurality of channels formed therein while the mounting surface also has a plurality channels formed therein with each channel on the mounting surface extending parallel to a channel in the wear surface. The channels in the wear surface and the mounting surface extending in a lateral direction across the width of the wear member between the longest sides of the wear member. As a result of this configuration, there may be limitations with regard to how large the wear member of the '828 patent can be made as well as problems with the mounting surface cracking or breaking when the wear member is attached to a curved surface.